Women smuggling and the men who help them

Gender, corruption and illicit networks in Senegal

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4250367
AutoresCynthia Howson (University of Washington Tacoma, autor correspondente)
Ano2012
Volume50
Fascículo3
Páginas421-445
Data de publicação2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x12000183
OpenAlexW2011947088
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas22

This paper investigates gendered patterns of corruption and access to illicit networks among female cross-border traders near the Senegambian border. Despite a discourse of generosity and solidarity, access to corrupt networks is mediated by class and gender, furthering social differentiation, especially insofar as it depends on geographic and socio-economic affinity with customs officers, state representatives and well-connected transporters. Issues of organisational culture, occupational identity and interpersonal negotiations of power represent important sources of corruption that require an understanding of the actual dynamics of public administration. While smuggling depends on contesting legal and social boundaries, the most successful traders (and transporters) strive to fulfil ideal gender roles as closely as possible. Ironically, trading on poverty and feminine vulnerability only works for relatively affluent women

Computer security · Criminology · Generosity · Identity (music) · Language change · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Power (physics) · Sociology · Solidarity · State (computer science) · Vulnerability (computing) · Corruption and Economic Development · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Law · Sex work and related issues